A New Henna Thread

I am having a better henna experience than I did when I tried it years ago. It's still that brassy red :nono: but that is better than gray. I haven't gotten the indigo to adhere to the henna on my grays yet so I'm still trying. Tonight I applied henna for 1.5 hours because I didn't have a lot of time. It took well. Now I have the indigo on. I mixed the indigo with egg white and water. I read somewhere that egg white would help application. It did go on a little smoother. It was a bit smoother and more watery. I tried to saturate my hair more and squeeze it in. I will leave it on an hour and see how it goes.
 
faithVA said:
I know someone has probably posted in here but it's too many pages to search.

Does anyone put apply their indigo using a squeeze bottle? If so how are you preparing your indigo? ratios? ingredients? tia
Click to expand...

I don't use a squeeze bottle for indigo cause I like the consistency of it to be fairly thick...kinda like a thick frosting. Since the hair is usually wet/damp from rinsing out the henna...making the indigo too thin gets to be a runny mess once I apply it on my hair. I don't have a ratio..just eyeball it by mixing in warm water a little at a time. I do use the entire box of indigo though and add in a dash of sea salt before applying.
 
lulu97 said:
I don't use a squeeze bottle for indigo cause I like the consistency of it to be fairly thick...kinda like a thick frosting. Since the hair is usually wet/damp from rinsing out the henna...making the indigo too thin gets to be a runny mess once I apply it on my hair. I don't have a ratio..just eyeball it by mixing in warm water a little at a time. I do use the entire box of indigo though and add in a dash of sea salt before applying.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. So far the thinner indigo sticks to my hair better. When it's a paste it just crumbles off.

I may try it in an application bottle next time and apply it in the shower after I rinse out the henna.
 
faithVA said:
I am having a better henna experience than I did when I tried it years ago. It's still that brassy red :nono: but that is better than gray. I haven't gotten the indigo to adhere to the henna on my grays yet so I'm still trying. Tonight I applied henna for 1.5 hours because I didn't have a lot of time. It took well. Now I have the indigo on. I mixed the indigo with egg white and water. I read somewhere that egg white would help application. It did go on a little smoother. It was a bit smoother and more watery. I tried to saturate my hair more and squeeze it in. I will leave it on an hour and see how it goes.
Click to expand...

How did it turn out Sis? I know you were pressed for time.

When I do a 2 step, I try to leave both on for a minimum of 4 hours each. If I'm low on time, I'll cut the henna down to 2 hours and sit under the dryer for at least 30 minutes to make up for it. The henna process is not a big deal if I rinse it out early especially since I already have a pretty decent henna coating from previous henna deep conditioning glosses. But the indigo needs about a good 4 hours to cover my grays and give me a deep jet black all over. I just try to start the process early in the day so I have time to leave each step on sufficiently and deep condition overnight.
 
lulu97 said:
How did it turn out Sis? I know you were pressed for time.

When I do a 2 step, I try to leave both on for a minimum of 4 hours each. If I'm low on time, I'll cut the henna down to 2 hours and sit under the dryer for at least 30 minutes to make up for it. The henna process is not a big deal if I rinse it out early especially since I already have a pretty decent henna coating from previous henna deep conditioning glosses. But the indigo needs about a good 4 hours to cover my grays and give me a deep jet black all over. I just try to start the process early in the day so I have time to leave each step on sufficiently and deep condition overnight.
Click to expand...
It turned out the same as always. It looked great last night. It was brassy this morning. I think most of the indigo came off on the towel.

Unless I'm sleeping I'm rarely home more than 5 hours at a time. I doubt I will ever be able to leave it in very long. One day I will try leaving the indigo on longer and add some salt.

My cuticle lay very flat so the indigo just comes off in my hands. I dare not deep condition after or I won't have any left on my hair at all. When I would color my hair I couldn't touch it until it was almost dry.
In two weeks I will try just the indigo and leave it on for 4 hours to see if it makes a difference.
 
I applied henna on my hair yesterday after almost 10 years since my last application; And for the first time since going natural (2009). I love love love the results! My hair feels so soft and I had virtually no tangles out of the shower! I'm kicking myself in the butt for not doing this a lot sooner. I used to do it on my relaxed hair all the time. I will definitely continue using henna in my regimen.

Here's what I used:
- henna
- indigo
- amla
- aloe vera powder
- avocado oil
- castor oil
- conditioner
2v2utZaKNx9fkWi.jpg

2v2utZks3x9fkWi.jpg

2v2utZiSNx9fkWi.jpg
 
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ak46 said:
I applied henna on my hair yesterday after almost 10 years since my last application; And for the first time since going natural (2009). I love love love the results! My hair feels so soft and I had virtually no tangles out of the shower! I'm kicking myself in the butt for not doing this a lot sooner. I used to do it on my relaxed hair all the time. I will definitely continue using henna in my regimen.

Here's what I used:
- henna
- indigo
- amla
- aloe vera powder
- avocado oil
- castor oil
- conditioner
2v2utZaKNx9fkWi.jpg

2v2utZks3x9fkWi.jpg

2v2utZiSNx9fkWi.jpg
Click to expand...
You go girl, welcome back to The World of Henna.
 
I have found that indigo adheres better when I first clarify with Rhassoul or Bentonite clay. To get the indigo to cling to the hair, I avoid applying any oil to the hair after rinsing the indigo for 48 hours.

I also don't like the red color of henna on my grays. I avoid this by doing a two-step application. The first one is 10% henna and 90% indigo. I leave that on for 60-90 minutes. The second application is 100% ind igo with a little salt and water. I leave that on for 1-2 hours, then rinse and deep condition. The result is black hair.

I hope these recommendations help anyone who is frustrated with trying to cover graying hair.
 
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I will be the first to admit I was too lazy to read all the pages. But a shout out to the ladies that mentioned the coconut milk-it made me a believer again. I was not looking for hair coloring, just conditioning-so I just mixed the henna mix with coconut milk, olive oil, avocado oil, and a dash of aussie moist conditioner and cholesterol and put it on my head right away. It mixed very nicely-a nice creamy concocotion that stayed in my head unlike my past experience with lime/water/henna which dripped all over my face. I left it on for about 4 hours and rinsed it off with conditioner since just water alone was impossible. I put aussie 7 in 1 for 5 minutes then rinsed for about 3 mins then put in aussie 3 mins recovery for like 5 mins, then rinsed for like another 5-8 minutes till the water turned clear.

My hair feels stronger, looks much darker (like almost jet black) and feels a little fuller then before. I'll keep doing it every 2 weeks for now to see if I see a big a difference. I'm hoping for thicker hair since I have fine hair.
 
beauti said:
@Aggie I ended up doing a henna gloss. I sat under the dryer for 40min. My hair was very soft, curls very defined, but i didn't get the protein-y feeling i wanted. I think I used more conditioner than I should have. Next time I will do a straight henna. Oh and no issues rinsing it all out.
Click to expand...
Aww, I'm sorry to hear this honey. I hope it turns out better next time or you could probably try using less conditioner next time you try it. I like my hair feeling soft after a henna treatment because I have had so many drying effects from henna, if it is never hard and dry ever again, it would be too soon...seriously!
 
I did a henna gloss this weekend for the first time. I used the napur 9 blend, plus the amla, bhrinraj, and aloe vera powder I had. I added tgin honey mask and giovanni. My hair felt great afterwards, soft but strong. I liked it.

I plan to do the gloss every 2 weeks, and then I'll add aloe vera, amla or bhrinraj to my weekly deep treatment. Just a little 1/2-1 teaspoon.

I intend to make the henna spritz like Curly Proverbs has, so I can see how I like it.
 
beauti said:
@Aggie I ended up doing a henna gloss. I sat under the dryer for 40min. My hair was very soft, curls very defined, but i didn't get the protein-y feeling i wanted. I think I used more conditioner than I should have. Next time I will do a straight henna. Oh and no issues rinsing it all out.
Click to expand...

@beauti Do you have any Brahmi powder? When I need that protein like feeling, I go for Brahmi. It makes my hair feel super strong! LOL Henna makes my hair feel more conditioned/coated.
 
I expected the gloss to make my hair feel super strong afterwards but it felt moisturized but a little stronger. I even put in some deep conditioner afterwards because I expected it to feel dry. None of that. I'm curious to see what adding Brahmi will do for the next treatment.

It also rinsed out fine so no horror story from that. All in all it was a great starter experience with henna.
 
KinkyCoilyZoe said:
I have found that indigo adheres better when I first clarify with Rhassoul or Bentonite clay. To get the indigo to cling to the hair, I avoid applying any oil to the hair after rinsing the indigo for 48 hours.

I also don't like the red color of henna on my grays. I avoid this by doing a two-step application. The first one is 10% henna and 90% indigo. I leave that on for 60-90 minutes. The second application is 100% ind igo with a little salt and water. I leave that on for 1-2 hours, then rinse and deep condition. The result is black hair.

I hope these recommendations help anyone who is frustrated with trying to cover graying hair.
Click to expand...
What brands of henna and indigo are you using? Sorry if you answered this already. I haven't read further through the thread. tia
 
I decided to do my henna tonight since I don't know when I will have another free weekend night. I got a late start because I was procrastinating. :ohwell:

I made my tea yesterday, with 2 green tea bags in about 1 cup of water and let that sit until I came home from work. yesterday. I purchased the Jamila henna. I mixed that up after work and let it sit until bedtime. I refrigerated it overnight and then took it out this morning to let it warm up. It made a lot of henna so I will have enough for at least 2 more applications.

I conditioned with generic Nexxus conditioner and then shampooed with TGIN sulfate free shampoo twice. I towel dried my hair and then applied the henna. I could tell this henna was different than my last batch. It was much darker in the bowl and it was dark when I put it on my hair. I let it sit for 3 hours. That's as long as I could stand it. When I rinsed my hair looked dark enough that I might have been able to get away with skipping the indigo. Unfortunately, my bathroom lighting is poor. Sometimes I get to work and my hair looks fire red :nono:

I mixed the indigo with salt and sugar. Read somewhere that sugar might help smooth it out. I figured it couldn't hurt. It did smooth it out. I only used 1/2 tsp. It smoothed it out so much it was more liquid than paste. I didn't want to waste any more indigo so I just left it like that. It was the prime opportunity to try indigo in an applicator bottle. I put the indigo in the applicator bottle and applied it in the shower. It was definitely less messy and it was fast. I just squirted it on my hair, squeezed it in and then massaged it in. When I got out of the shower, I took a color brush and touched up any spots I missed.

Now I have a plastic cap on. I'm probably going to let this sit for 2 hours. I wanted to do more but I'm over it.

Since the henna worked so well I will try combining the henna and indigo next time and let them sit for 4 hours. I can't do like lulu and do 4 hours for each :nono:

I still don't think I can condition after I rinse out the indigo without rinsing it all out. I diluted some leave in and put it in a spray bottle. I will spritz my hair and then squeeze some gel into it and let it dry some before I touch it. Maybe I need to try a different brand of indigo to see if I get better results.
 
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